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Box Office: “Oppenheimer” Hits $300 Mil, “Barbie” Short of $600 Mil, “Gran Turismo” Races to Number 1

Roger Friedman
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Box Office: “Oppenheimer” Hits $300 Mil, “Barbie” Short of $600 Mil, “Gran Turismo” Races to Number 1

Today is $4 day at movie theaters. Buy the tickets in person — I made the mistake of buying mine from Fandango, which charged $3.83 in fees. LOL. Just go to the theater, where there is no fee.

The weekend take for “Oppenheimer” brought it to just over $300 million — an amazing mark for a three hour talky epic that has no CGI. It’s mostly men discussing how to build a bomb that could destroy the world. Knockout performances and keen directing keep you on the edge of your seat.

“Barbie” will hit $600 million US tomorrow or Tuesday. It fell short this weekend at $594 million. It also finished second to “Gran Turismo,” which raced to number 1 with gaming fans.

The new kid on the block is Helen Mirren in “Golda,” an indie from Bleecker Street. Mirren will get an Oscar nomination for playing legendary Israeli prime minister Golda Meir. The movie made $1.8 million this weekend, and it’s just getting started. Let’s ee “Golda” in the mix at the Gotham Awards and even the Spirit Awards.

Trump Warns Fox News Unless They Play Nice Their “Beautiful Golden Goose Will Be Forever Gone”

Roger Friedman
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Trump Warns Fox News Unless They Play Nice Their “Beautiful Golden Goose Will Be Forever Gone”

On social media, Donald Trump keeps attacking Fox News. He’s mocking them for “low ratings” for the GOP presidential debate. The total number was 12.8 million, which was pretty high for a regular debate and one that didn’t feature him as a potential villain.

Trump warns Fox News unless they start warming up to him, their “forever Golden Goose will be forever gone”!

Trump is also claiming that “everyone” was watching his interview with Tucker Carlson on Twitter X. The reality is that Trump was crowing about 300 million views. The actual number never rose about 260,000, but those were just people sampling and leaving the ridiculous encounter.

The Carlson Trump interview never achieved 1 million “likes.” The number was 829,000. That’s a fraction of the Fox number. LIke his weight and golf score, these are numbers Trump can’t seem to process in his tiny head.

Bob Barker, Star of “Price is Right” for Decades, Passes Away at Age 91, Prominent Animal Rights Activist

Roger Friedman
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Bob Barker, Star of “Price is Right” for Decades, Passes Away at Age 91, Prominent Animal Rights Activist

Bob Barker has died at age 91.

The prominent animal rights activist hosted “The Price is Right” for decades, from 1972 to 2007. His calm demeanor turned the failing game show into a massive hit.

Barker had originally come to TV as the host of “Truth or Consequences” in 1956, meaning he was on daily TV for a record 16 years when he took over “Price,” and that was just the beginning.

Barker presented on TV as a genial uncle. But in real life he was tough. “Price is Right” had plenty of scandals and even some lawsuits. One of the women on the show, Brandi Sherwood, won her lawsuit against the show in November 2012, after she claimed the show terminated her while on maternity leave; she was awarded over $8,000,000 in damages, both punitive and personal.

There were other scandals you can read here.

Here’s a more complete bio.

Box Office: Game On as “Barbie” from Mattel Knocked Off Number 1 by “Gran Turismo” Movie from PlayStation

Roger Friedman
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Box Office: Game On as “Barbie” from Mattel Knocked Off Number 1 by “Gran Turismo” Movie from PlayStation

“Barbie” is no longer the number 1 movie made from plastic.

The new kid in town is “Gran Turismo.” The former film is from Mattel, the latter from PlayStation (and Sony).

The toy department has suddenly taken over the movie business.

Last night, “Barbie” was knocked off its perch at number 1 by “GT,” and by four million dollars. The $8.5 million “GT” opening includes $1.8 million in Thursday previews.

“Barbie” needn’t worry her pretty pink world, though. She’s fast approaching $600 million domestic. The end of her run will come after Labor Day as kids go back to school and life returns to what some call normal.

“GT” is based on a video game about kids who play the game but then become real race car drivers. It’s a true story with Orlando Bloom and David Harbour playing the adults. Bloom rarely works anymore after making so much money from Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” series. Harbour has turned his role in “Stranger Things” into the stepping stone of all time.

Sunday — tomorrow — is $4 day at the movies so everything will be sold out.

Overnight Sensation Oliver Anthony’s Unexpected Plot Twist: Not a Right Wing Redneck, Cautions Republicans About Using His Songs

Roger Friedman
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Overnight Sensation Oliver Anthony’s Unexpected Plot Twist: Not a Right Wing Redneck, Cautions Republicans About Using His Songs

This is a plot twist no one saw coming.

In the last two weeks, unknown singer Oliver Anthony has placed 14 songs on iTunes and become an overnight sensation. His song, “Rich Men North of Richmond” is number 1. He’s become the (sorta) Bob Dylan of the summer of 2023.

The Republicans were so gassed up they used his song for the Fox News debate. Everyone assumed Oliver was a redneck right wing Republican. Turns out, he’s not.

Last night he posted a video and several messages to social media explaining that the people he’s singing about “are the ones up on that stage” — and that the “rich men” — are all politicians. He’s not a Biden supporter but he’s not endorsing the Republican squad of lunatics. Whatever else he believes or stands for is still up in the air. But he did say he turned down a big record contract to stay independent.

Rachel Maddow and MSNBC Team Take Arrest Night in Total Viewers But Lose Key Age Demo to CNN, Tapper et al

Roger Friedman
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Rachel Maddow and MSNBC Team Take Arrest Night in Total Viewers But Lose Key Age Demo to CNN, Tapper et al

So who watched the glorious spectacle of Donald Trump being arrested?

On cable news, the winning network was MSNBC. Rachel Maddow led her team to victory starting at 7pm.

But MSNBC lost the key demo to CNN, of all things even though they finished last in prime time viewers.

MSNBC had 2.8 million total prime time viewers to Fox News’s 2.6 million. CNN scored 1.6 million.

But CNN’s victory was in younger viewers. In the 25-49 range, they beat Fox and tied CNN. That’s a flicker of hope.

MSNBC solidly won the 7pm and 8pm hours with Maddow running the show. Fox couldn’t keep up with them. At 9pm, Alex Wagner and Sean Hannity were neck and neck. At 10pm, Lawrence O’Donnell’s erudite commentary was too much for Greg Gutfeld.

Earlier, Ari Melber and Nicolle Wallace led MSNBC to victory over Fox News.

As MSNBC heads into the arraignments, trials, etc they have the advantage over Fox because their viewers are smarter and want the actual news. Last night Fox was busy talking about Hunter Biden while the first ex US President history had his mug shot taken. They’re in a fantasy land.

Trump Dumps on Fox News, Falsely Claiming GOP Debate Had “Lowest Ratings Ever” — Real Number Was 12.8 Million

Roger Friedman
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Trump Dumps on Fox News, Falsely Claiming GOP Debate Had “Lowest Ratings Ever” — Real Number Was 12.8 Million

Donald Trump lies like a rug, and that’s not being nice to rugs (or the one on his head).

He just dumped on Fox News, falsely claiming the GOP debate on Wednesday night had perhaps the lowest ratings ever.

In fact he is wrong. The GOP debate fetched a total of 12.8 million viewers on Fox News and Fox Business.

It won the night and surprised quite a few people with its high numbers. Would the spectacle of Trump bloviating on it added to the numbers? Undoubtedly. But he chose not to participate and instead did an interview with Tucker Carlson on Twitter X.

That interview scored only

800,000 likes on 257 million views. The likes are the actual number of people who watched it all the way through– a fraction of the Fox number.
And Donald Trump weighs just 215 lbs. LOL.

Don’t Believe the Hype About HYBE, Scooter Braun and K-Pop: Records Sales and Popularity in the US Are Not So Hot

Roger Friedman
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Don’t Believe the Hype About HYBE, Scooter Braun and K-Pop: Records Sales and Popularity in the US Are Not So Hot

In the continuing saga of Scooter Braun losing a raft of stars from his management company there’s been spin about his role at HYBE.

HYBE is the Korean company that bought Braun’s SB Projects last year. They manage all the big K-Pop stars like BTS and its various solo members. Braun became the CEO of HYBE US, and a big deal was made of that.

But the truth is, K-Pop records don’t sell a lot of records in America. So the idea that Scooter is leaving the management of a half dozen superstars for the world of KPop is absurd. To wit: this year the big HYBE hit has been a song called “Seven” by Jung Kook of BTS. Total US sales so far: 700,000 streaming equivalent. Only 200,000 paid down loads.

So let’s get a grip.

Other HYBE acts so far this year sold even less: BTS sold 800,000 streaming, just 234K in downloads. And it’s just like that for Jimin, another BTS member, and a girl group called New Jeans.

Those numbers are a fraction of their hype, and also minor numbers compared to what Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato and so on would sell if they were properly managed.

Meantime, HYPE bought SB Projects because they thought they were doing business with the manager of the aforementioned acts. If they’re gone, what interest would HYBE have in Scooter and his company?

So don’t believe the hype about HYBE even if they told a Korean journal they sold 55 million albums total so far this year. That’s all over the world, and maybe even including other planets.

PS Jung Kook’s EP, released today, and containing the hit single, is stuck at number 27 on iTunes. Fans who wanted that song have already downloaded or streamed it.

Miley Cyrus Goes Back to Her Superstar Hit “Flowers” Writers for New Hit “Used to Be Young”

Roger Friedman
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Miley Cyrus Goes Back to Her Superstar Hit “Flowers” Writers for New Hit “Used to Be Young”

Miley Cyrus is back with a new hit.

The song is called “Used to Be Young,” and I see the PR machine has hyped up the idea that Cyrus wrote the catchy new hit.

But in reality, Cyrus went back to her “Flowers” hitmakers Michael Pollack and Gregory Hein. Top songwriter Greg Kurstin also contributed to “Used to Be Young.”

I’m sure the composers of “Used to Be Young” are less than amused that not a single press release or story about the song mentions them. They only wrote it!

“Used to Be Young” has the same cadence as “Flowers,” and it’s just as memorable. It’s all about getting back to simple melodies and hooks. Sony couldn’t break a follow up single to “Flowers” so they went with this instead.

“Flowers” is still on the charts, and will get a slew of Grammy noms. “Used to Be Young” could easily follow in its footsteps. Miley — who has a great voice — has found a formula that works!

Kathie Lee Gifford Posts Loving Tribute to Regis Philbin on His 92nd Birthday: “Missing you every day”

Roger Friedman
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Kathie Lee Gifford Posts Loving Tribute to Regis Philbin on His 92nd Birthday: “Missing you every day”

My gosh. Today would have been Regis Philbin’s 92nd birthday. Kathie Lee Gifford has put up a lovely tribute to him on Twitter.

I think about Regis all the time. He and his wife Joy were a big part of our New York social lives. He was always so funny and ingratiating. He wanted to know what was going on in my life. He was a very unaffected celebrity which was amazing considering he’d hung with the Rat Pack. But Joey Bishop didn’t treat him well, and I think Regis remembered that when he himself finally became a Big Deal. I think Joy only helped him make him even warmer as a human, and even when he left his show he remained an imp, with a twinkle in his eye. He used to say, “I’m only one man!” It’s a line I say to myself every day in his memory.

PS All the success of his “Live” show now with Kelly and Mark is attributed to Regis. He invented the show, and the talk intro with two hosts. Every show like “Access Hollywood” or “Extra” — any of them — should bow down to him. There was only one Regis Philbin.

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